Fair Lawn High School
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| Fair Lawn High School | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| 14-00 Berdan Avenue Fair Lawn, NJ 07410 |
|
| Information | |
| Principal | James Marcella |
| Enrollment |
1,476 (as of 2005-06)[1] |
| Faculty | 106.0 (on FTE basis)[1] |
| Student:teacher ratio | 13.9[1] |
| Type | Public high school |
| Athletics conference | North Bergen Interscholastic Athletic League |
| Mascot | Captain Cutter |
| Team name | Cutters |
| Color(s) | Crimson and Grey |
| Information | 201-794-5450 |
| Homepage | School website |
Fair Lawn High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, United States, serving students as part of the Fair Lawn Public Schools. The school is for those residing in Fair Lawn, a borough in Bergen County in Northern New Jersey.
As of the 2005-06 school year, the school had an enrollment of 1,476 students and 106.0 classroom teachers (on a FTE basis, for a student-teacher ratio of 13.9.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Awards and recognition
For the 1990-91 and 1997-98 school years, Fair Lawn High School received the Blue Ribbon Award from the United States Department of Education, the highest honor that an American school can achieve.[2][3]
Then-Principal was named the 1998 State Principal of the Year by the New Jersey Principals and Supervisors Association in recognition of her work, which included being the principal of the only public high school in New Jersey (as of that time) to have won two Blue Ribbon Awards for Excellence.[4]
In Newsweek's May 22, 2007 issue, ranking the country's top high schools, Fair Lawn High School was listed in 808th place, the 19th-highest ranked school in New Jersey.[5]
Fair Lawn High School was the 62nd-ranked public high school in New Jersey out of 316 schools statewide, in New Jersey Monthly magazine's September 2006 cover story on the state's Top Public High Schools.[6]
In 2008, the Fair Lawn High School Destination Imagination team won the New Jersey Affiliate Finals for the first time in school history. The team competed in the Obstacles, Of Course Challenge.
[edit] General
The school offers numerous classes of various levels, including an extensive Advanced Placement Program (AP) program. Students consistently perform above the state average on the High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA) and SAT. The town's demographics are reflected in the languages spoken at home by students (English 64.1%, Russian 13.0%, Spanish 7.6%, Hebrew 4.2%, Other 11.1%).[citation needed]
[edit] Clubs
Fair Lawn High School has an active extracurricular program encompassing diverse interests. The school has an award-winning musical theater program, as well as shows performed by the Masques (drama group), the Boptones, the band, and the orchestra.
On November 11, 2006, the Fair Lawn High School Marching Band and Color Guard won the Class V national championship in percussion at the 2006 United States National Marching Band Championships held in Annapolis, Maryland at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The color guard also placed fourth. The team finished third overall in Group IV with a score of 94.225. [7][8]
Both Junior and Senior Math Leagues do well in state and national competitions. The Senior Math League, under Mrs. Irene Stein's command, swept the Bergen County Math League earning the first, second, and third place individual scores in 1999-2000. Other successful teams include, the Chemistry League, Academic Decathlon, Debate Team, and Computer League.
The are plenty of unique activities such as the Russian, Asian and Hebrew Culture Clubs, the Quilting Club, JDAC and the Animal Rights Club.
Another club in the school is Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). Many students represent Fair Lawn High School at conferences around the nation every year, and bring back many awards. Fair Lawn High School is known to be a strong FBLA chapter and students run for NJ FBLA state office consistently.
The Student Government is a large part of all student activities and is at the base of many school sponsored events.
A recent edition to the Fair Lawn High School club system is the Student Source club, which was founded by two students who run under firstname basis aliases Dean and Pete. The club is one based on the internet and was founded in the idea to earn community service recognition.
Another recent addition was the Student Society for Stem Cell Research.
GSA, or the Gay-Straight Alliance, hosts events like the Coffee House, where students can perform and meet new people from other schools. The goal of this club is to spread awareness about homosexuality and cut down on harassment.
[edit] Marching band
The Fair Lawn High School Marching Band is a highly acclaimed high school musical program. Directed by Paul Kafer, they placed third in Nationals in Annapolis, Maryland in 2007. They won Best Percussion, also. In 2008, they placed fifth in Nationals in Baltimore Maryland.
Some past shows include: The Best Way Out is Always Through, Cascades: A Series of Stages, Festival of Lights, A New Century Dawn, Perspectives, and An American Portrait,
Paul Kafer is assisted by Jaime Szeinberg, Alex Knox, Gina Monahan, and others.
[edit] Athletics
The Fair Lawn High School Cutters compete in the North Bergen Interscholastic Athletic League (NBIL/NBIAL). Depending on the sport, there is at most a Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Freshman team. Some sports do not have all three levels. The schools marching band is one of the best in the state of New Jersey & the United States and has won many awards in recognition of this.
Teams marked with an asterisk (*), although they officially compete and score as separate teams, usually have their events and practices with each other.
- Fall sports teams: Cheerleading, Cross country (boys/girls)*, Football, Gymnastics, Marching Band, Soccer (boys/girls), Tennis (girls), Volleyball (girls) and Field Hockey
- Winter sports teams: Basketball (boys/girls), Bowling (boys/girls)*, Ice hockey, Swimming (boys/girls)*, Track (boys/girls)*, Wrestling and Fencing (boys/girls)*
- Spring sports teams: Baseball (boys), Softball (girls), Track (boys/girls)*, Tennis (boys), Lacrosse (boys/girls), Volleyball (boys) and Golf
The boys tennis team won the 2007 North I, Group III state sectional championship with a 3-2 win over Ramapo High School.[9]
The boys wrestling team is arguably the most successful program in the school. It was started in 1947 by Frank Bennet (who also founded Washington Township -now Warren Hills- wrestling program and has been inducted in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame). The most successful coach in the program's history was Frank Guadagnino who retired in the beginning of the 2006 season. Guadagnino had over 300 career victories for the Cutters and 14 League Championships. The 1987 Fair Lawn High School wrestling team has been recognized as the best team in Bergen County for the 1980's decade, also led under the guidance of Guadagnino. The wrestling program is now under the guidance of Head Coach Jon Piela who earned his first League title in his first year of coaching.
In 2008, the boys fencing team did very well, especially in foil. They placed second in Districts, thanks to the coach Gene Packer. The girls team did well also.
The boys track and field 4x400 meter relay of Andrew Sloves, Mark Tran, Josh Batelli, and Jason Rose qualified for Penn Relays and is currently one of the best relays in all of North Jersey.
[edit] Administration
Core members of the school's administration include:[10]
- James Marcella - Principal
- Tina Lane - Vice Principal
- Timothy Wilson - Assistant Principal Grade Level Administrator for Classes of 2011 and 2009
- Frank Guadagnino - Assistant Principal Grade Level Administrator for Classes of 2008 and 2010
- Corey Robinson - Director of Athletics
[edit] Notable alumni
- Bruce Jankowski (1949-), played wide receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1971-72.[11]
- Millie Perkins (1938-) Actress, played Anne Frank
- Ron Perranoski (1936-), former MLB Baseball pitcher.[12]
- Regina Spektor (1980-), singer-songwriter and pianist who spent her last two years of high school here and graduated from FLHS.[13]
[edit] Notable faculty
- Harrison Bernstein (1978-), football coach and trainer
- Hubie Brown, former NBA basketball coach, who coached the Fair Lawn High School basketball team in the 1960s.[14]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Fair Lawn High School, National Center for Education Statistics. Accessed October 26, 2007.
- ^ "SCHOOLS BASKING IN GLOW OF TOP AWARD", The Record (Bergen County), May 28, 1998): pL1. "Fair Lawn High School learned recently that it captured its second Blue Ribbon Award this year"
- ^ Blue Ribbon Schools Program: Schools Recognized 1982-1983 through 1999-2002 (PDF), United States Department of Education. Accessed May 11, 2006.
- ^ "PRINCIPAL OF THE YEAR; FAIR LAWN EDUCATOR IS NO. 1 IN NEW JERSEY.", The Record (Bergen County), August 28, 1998): pL1.
- ^ "The Top of the Class: The complete list of the 1,200 top U.S. schools", Newsweek, May 22, 2007. Accessed May 24, 2007.
- ^ "Top Public High Schools in New Jersey" (Schools 51-100), New Jersey Monthly, September 2006, backed up by Internet Archive as of March 10, 2007. Accessed March 5, 2008.
- ^ Fair Lawn band, color guard excel in national competition, The Record (Bergen County), November 19, 2006.
- ^ USSBA National Championship Titles, United States Scholastic Band Association (USSBA) press release dated November 14, 2006.
- ^ 2007 Boys Tennis - North I, Group III, NJSIAA. Accessed June 6, 2007.
- ^ Administrative Staff, accessed October 17, 2006.
- ^ Bruce Jankowski, database Football. Accessed March 30, 2008.
- ^ Schwartz, Paul. "Bob Potts dead at 73; Fair Lawn native heart and soul of Met League.", The Record (Bergen County), October 24, 2007. "In 1954, as a 17-year-old Fair Lawn High School student, Potts established the Fair Lawn Athletic Club baseball team to give himself and his friends a chance to play summer baseball. The team soon became the Paterson and later the Clifton Phillies, which was the one of the most successful teams of its kind in the country until it folded in 1999. Among the first players on the Phillies was Potts' high school teammate, Ron Perranoski, who later starred as a relief pitcher on several Los Angeles Dodgers world championship teams."
- ^ Bloom, Nate. "Noshes: Worth Checking Out", The Jewish Standard, June 29, 2007. "Spektor, 27, is far better known... She went to middle school yeshiva in New York and, for her first two years in high school, she went to the Frisch School in Paramus. She graduated from Fair Lawn High School."
- ^ Hubie Brown, Fair Lawn News, Summer 2004, accessed April 17, 2007. "Brown was coach of the Fair Lawn High School basketball team in the 1960s and the offensive coordinator for its undefeated football team."
